Head Start

Pennsylvania Teen Looking to Expand Farm-to-Fork Business

Matt NcNany is an 18-year-old farmer from Harrisville, Pa., who has been raising and selling poultry and red meat products since elementary school. (Progressive Farmer photo by Lynna McNany)

Matt NcNany is an 18-year-old farmer from Harrisville, Pa., who has been raising and selling poultry and red meat products since elementary school.

His family always had a few head of cattle, and McNany got his love for farming from his dad, Doug. His entrepreneurial spirit first surfaced when he was 11.

"He came up with this idea to raise turkeys and sell them at Thanksgiving," says Lynna McNany, Matt's mother. So he did. "He took the money from his sales to buy his first four-wheeler."

By age 14, McNany was driving tractors and baling hay with his dad. At 16, McNany wanted a job, and Lynna suggested he start selling beef to Cafe Bon Appetit, at Grove City College, in Grove City, Pa. Lynna works for the cafe and was familiar with its Farm to Fork program.

FARM TO FORK

Cafe Bon Appetit is one of more than 500 cafes across 32 states operated by Bon Appetit Management Company. Bon Appetit established its Farm to Fork program in 1999, which requires chefs to purchase 20% of their product from local small farms. The program defines local as a farm located within a 150-mile radius, and small means $5 million or less in annual sales. The cafe at Grove City College needed local farmers to supply quality, farm-raised goods for the 2,500 meals it serves daily, with a goal of 20% of the meals supplied by local products. Today, the cafe works with three to four local farmers and is always looking for more.

Initially, McNany didn't have enough beef to meet the cafe's demand. Working with the eatery also meant a mountain of paperwork to meet certain requirements. That forced him to rethink how he raised cattle.

To build his herd, McNany reached out to neighboring cattle producer Ed Weber. "I first traded him hay for his bull calves," he says.

Weber also loaned him pasture and equipment, such as a feed mixer wagon. McNany acquired 25 head of red and black baldy yearling feeders and bull calves from Weber, and added them to his father's 15 head of red and black Hereford and Angus crosses, including a mature Black Angus breeding bull.

"Ed was an older farmer and said any younger farmer with that much enthusiasm for farming, he was willing to help him out," Lynna recalls. Sadly, Weber passed away last year but left a lasting legacy in McNany's business.

NATURAL BEEF

The younger McNany then set to work making the farm all-natural, going down the cafe's Farm to Fork checklist so his beef product aligned with the program's standards.

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To help cut costs, McNany made his own headlocks, feed troughs and squeeze chutes using welding skills he learned at Venango Technology Center, a vocational technology school in Oil City, Pa. In fact, McNany now travels as a welder four days a week for Witherup Fabricating in addition to his farming responsibilities.

After acquiring cattle and pasture space, McNany spent eight months undergoing inspections, completing paperwork and modifying his management practices.

The USDA inspected McNany's cattle and barn. The McNanys' purchased a $1 million liability insurance policy, which meant another inspection by the insurance company. A traceability plan was developed so the beef could be traced from farm to kitchen.

He then found USDA-approved butcher shop Hirsch's Meats, in Kossuth, Pa., about 20 miles from McNany's farm, to process the meat. USDA certification creates a paper trail for McNany's beef, a federal requirement for all commercial beef. Hirsch's Meats has a USDA inspector on site every day.

HEALTH CHALLENGES

Herd health proved to be a significant hurdle. McNany had to transition his herd-health program to an antibiotic-free system, meaning a calf couldn't even receive penicillin.

McNany worked with his veterinarian, Vanessa Philson, to address health issues, such as the coughs of newborn calves. A medicated feed called Crumbles could be given occasionally to address the cough as well as an antibiotic-free wormer, Prairie Pride.

"At first, I didn't think it [changing herd health] was [worth it]. You have to love doing it," McNany says. But now, he says, "It's a good feeling when you've raised a cow and fed [1,500] people off of it."

FILL THE ORDERS

Once his farm was given the stamp of approval, McNany had a tall order to fill. Cafe Bon Appetit executive chef Ryan Trask needed about 600 pounds of ground beef per week with a cooking-to-fat ratio of no more than 80/20.

McNany quickly learned the ratio was dependent on how he fed his cattle. His first few head were 1,200 to 1,500 pounds, and his butcher told him, "You gotta get 'em down," McNany recounts.

He now raises cattle on a forage and corn-based diet (hay, grass, silage and corn) until 800 pounds, and then finishes them on grass until they reach 1,200 to 1,300 pounds. Because of his management changes in herd-health strategies and feed, McNany earns a substantial premium in per-pound price for his beef.

Two years later, McNany has a steady, weekly schedule. "We sit on the back of my truck [on campus], [Trask] places his order -- usually burger, every once in a while a roast," he explains. McNany drops off a cow on Monday to the butcher, picks up the meat on Thursday and delivers his product to Trask, who then places his next order. McNany replenishes his stock during summer months when the cafe is closed.

As the cafe's youngest vendor, McNany has developed a strong working relationship with Trask. He's even started to meet some of the customers.

Cafe Bon Appetit on Grove City College's campus hosts the "Eat Local Challenge Day" one day a year when all the dishes use local ingredients. Farm to Fork vendors are invited to the event to meet the students.

"Some of the kids didn't know where their food came from. [They] thought it just came from the supermarket," McNany says. "I explain the operation, and they get it."

MAKE THE CONNECTION

For Trask, the Farm to Fork program is refreshing. He enjoys "having a face to go with your food," and he makes an effort to visit the farms that supply the cafe.

Trask says of McNany, "He's very versatile to our needs, what we want to do and how we want the product."

It was Trask's request for sausage that prompted McNany to expand his operation to include pigs last year, two sows and a boar. The sows produce about two litters each year, meaning McNany produces nearly 40 hogs annually depending on litter size. He finishes 15 to 20 hogs per year for the cafe to a weight ranging from 280 to 350 pounds. Since those hogs are used for sausage, the meat needs a little more fat. McNany produces an order of hot and sweet sausage every other week for the cafe. He sells the remaining animals at 280 pounds to private customers for freezer meat, as well as saving some meat for his own family.

FEEL-GOOD FOOD

The Farm to Fork program creates a specific mood in the cafe, Trask explains. "Students enjoy it a lot more, and I use more of the local product than another product," he says.

McNany taps into the emotional side of food production, too.

"All-natural -- it has to be happy cows; we have to try to keep California cows," McNany laughs, referencing the Real California Cheese commercials that tout good cheese comes from happy cows.

For more information about Bon Appetit Management Company's Farm to Fork program, visit www.bamco.com/timeline/farm-to-fork.

Editor's Note: This story marks the beginning of a new ongoing series on farmers catering to the local and farm-to-table markets (private customers, restaurants or farmers' markets). We'll also include a farm-to-table recipe from the chef featured in the story. Let us know how your interpretation turns out on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest.

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